Unexpected
by tielan
Summary: She went a long way just to say 'thank you'.


**NOTES**: Written for the **sgrarepairings** challenge. The request was for Teyla/Caldwell. Actually, even before the ficathon, I thought about writing a gen story featuring these two for some time, but never got around to it. I might have to try it one of these days.**  
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**Unexpected**

The bright light of the transporting beam faded, the brilliant white dimming to the cooler greys and blues of the _Daedelus_ transporter room. Teyla blinked and met the gazes of the transporter technician and Colonel Caldwell.

"Welcome to the _Daedelus_."

"Colonel Caldwell." Teyla stepped out of the 'transporter zone' marked out in the middle of the cargo bay. "Thank you for coming to meet me."

"It's no trouble," he said. "If you'll come this way." One hand gestured towards the doors leading out of the transporter room, indicating that she should precede him.

Teyla glanced at the technician at the transporter console and met the woman's frank and curious gaze. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome, ma'am. Will you be returning to Atlantis tonight?"

Teyla paused, surprised by the question. Why would she be remaining on the ship?

"Yes," Colonel Caldwell said. "Teyla will be returning to Atlantis, but Hermiod can man the transporter. That'll be all, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." The woman looked abashed as she touched something on the console and the lights in the tape-marked zone dimmed.

She moved briskly out of the room, and Teyla watched her go before turning to Colonel Caldwell. "I have missed something."

"It's probably just as well," he said. "I apologise for that."

"No apology is necessary..." she replied, confused.

The Colonel was watching her with a calm gaze as she looked up at him. "Would you prefer we spoke in one of the meeting rooms?"

In truth, Teyla did not mind where they spoke. She had requested this meeting for nothing more than the chance to express her own gratitude for the Colonel's recent assistance in managing the city and the opportunity to better understand the reasoning behind his decision. "Wherever is most convenient and comfortable. A meeting room will be fine."

Colonel Caldwell nodded and directed her down a corridor. "Dr. Weir is back at the helm of the city?"

It was small talk. The Colonel would be well aware that Elizabeth was once again in charge of the city, else Teyla would not have left it. "I believe that she is in her office even now, going through the last few days of reports."

"It builds up," Colonel Caldwell said wryly. "I take it she's happy to be back?"

"I believe that goes without saying."

Since Phoebus and Thalen's attempted takeover of the city, Teyla had been managing the city while Elizabeth recovered from Phoebus' possession. While dealing with the day-to-day aspects of the personnel was well within Teyla's abilities and something she had done many times before, only Elizabeth could deal with the paperwork, bureaucracy, and reports for Earth.

Colonel Caldwell had taken up military authority over the city until John had managed to escape Carson's attentions and take up command again in the last day.

After one day of dealing with John in his role as commander of the city, Teyla had been relieved to hand the leadership back to Elizabeth. The other woman had seemed relieved to have something to occupy herself - as well as to be in a position to once again deal with John on a carefully professional basis.

Routine was re-established, and nothing more was to be said on the matter.

Under Colonel Caldwell's directions, they moved into one of the rooms off a well-lit corridor. Judging by the chairs and table, and the tray of glasses sitting in the middle of the table, it was a meeting room of some sort. Suitably formal, yet private enough that they might converse without interruption or eavesdropping.

Teyla turned as the Colonel closed the door behind him, eschewing a seat in favour of a standing position. She did not feel this was a conversation that should be had sitting down - it was not so formal as to require the 'protection' of the table. "You may be wondering why I requested this meeting."

"It crossed my mind a few dozen times in the last hour since you made the request." He seemed easy about it, which was a relief.

"I wished to thank you, Colonel. For the...mark of your trust during the situation with Phoebus and Thalen."

He nodded. "It was merited, Teyla. You dealt very well with a difficult situation."

The compliment warmed her - she was not immune to praise, however inured she had grown to criticism of her actions.

"I was not the only one dealing with the situation," she pointed out. "It cannot have been easy to lay the fate of two hundred of your people in the hands of one woman who does not even originate from your world."

"It wasn't." His directness surprised her. "But in my line of work, trust is earned. And you've more than earned it in my opinion."

Teyla realised his eyes were very dark and very intent. "Thank you."

The serious face eased into a smile. "You travelled all the way up here to say, 'Thank you'?"

"It is a weighty thank you," she answered, knowing that laughter twitched the corners of her mouth.

"Then you get a weighty 'you're welcome,'" Colonel Caldwell replied with equal indulgence. "Although both Sheppard and Dr. Weir seem to share that trust."

"True. And yet...there is a difference between the faith that is placed by people who have known me since my first day in this city, and that of people whose experience might suggest...a less trusting mindset."

This time, it wasn't a smile that creased his face but a broad grin. "Teyla, if you're saying that the military are suspicious bastards, then I'd point out that Sheppard is also military trained."

"Colonel Sheppard is Colonel Sheppard," Teyla said, feeling a little self-conscious at the mention of her team-mate after the events of two days past. "He has good reason to trust me."

The pause that followed that pronouncement came with a thoughtful look from the Colonel. Teyla braced herself for the question that she knew was to come.

She had expected something of the sort since the conclusion of the Phoebus-Thalen situation. Thalen's hint that John's feelings went beyond friendship had been heard by several people - among them Colonel Caldwell. Given the restrictions on liaisons within the expedition, a military commander might well question the relationship between one of the men he was to oversee and a woman who was not of the expedition and stood outside those restrictions - especially if he had been given reason to wonder.

"Sheppard has his faults," said Colonel Caldwell. "But he's a good judge of character. I trust that, even if I wish he would occasionally follow orders." Teyla could understand the Colonel's despairing tone, even find it amusing - she did not have to deal with John's unruliness. She had also heard Elizabeth's complaints regarding John's independence in that area.

Her team-mate was not an easy man to command. As Teyla had discovered in only a day.

"Do you care about him?"

The question fell softly into the quiet. The only noises in the room were the faint hum of the air-cycling system and the ever-present rumble of the _Daedelus_' engines beneath her feet, yet Teyla could feel the strange tightness in her chest, the twist in her belly as she met his gaze without flinching.

"I do not think that is your concern, Colonel," she answered after a moment.

Another man - say, the now-reassigned Sergeant Bates - would have pursued her prevarication as a sign of guilt. Colonel Caldwell simply arched a brow, his expression carefully neutral. "And if I chose to make it my concern?"

Teyla wondered at his words. "We are friends. That is no secret."

"But it never occurred to you that he might think of you as more than just a friend?" Caldwell snorted - a short laugh - and looked away. "I guess it wouldn't. Teyla..."

She waited. He looked away, his hands lifting to frame something in the air at his waist, before dropping back to his sides. The hesitation stirred a prescient tingle in Teyla's nape, a faint stirring of the hairs along her arms, as though her body could sense change coming.

"Teyla, you have my respect and trust - I haven't made a secret of that any more than Sheppard has." The expression on his face seemed somehow resigned. "And, like Sheppard, I've considered...more."

Teyla stilled, even her breathing stopping for a moment, as her heart thudded loudly in her chest. This had not occurred to her - not even for an instant in all their interactions. And he was serious. The twist of his lips had an element of self-mockery to it; a recognition of the unexpectedness of his suggestion, but he meant what he said.

He was still watching her, the calm, unruffled gaze of an older man - or a more mature one. There was no alien in possession, trying to sway her mind; no extenuating circumstances. Just a man stating his position and his goal.

"I'm not anticipating anything more than your respect," he said after a moment. "But I'd be...pleased...if you gave it some thought."

"I..." Teyla's knuckles brushed the table and she looked down at the polished surface. Her shadowy reflection looked back from the glossy wood veneer, no wiser as to how to deal with this. "Colonel, I did not expect..." There was no way to express herself appropriately. "I only came here to express my thanks for your willingness to trust me."

"And ended up with more than you expected." Caldwell murmured, his deep voice easy again now that his words were spoken. "That's okay, Teyla. Like I said, I wasn't expecting more."

"Colonel--"

"I'd prefer it if you called me 'Steven'. Since we're discussing this."

Teyla recalled another request for her to use a man's first name.

Her nails scraped across the table as she took a deep breath. This was not like that situation. "Steven. I respect you - you are a good man and a good leader - but I do not promise anything more than reflection."

"That will do. For the moment." At least he was looking at this with a sense of humour.

"Thank you." Teyla spread her hands out. "For both your trust and your regard. It is...flattering."

"It's not flattery if it's the truth," he said, and although his tone of voice was light, his earlier response made her aware of the admiration in his words. "And it is the truth, Teyla."

"I did not doubt that." Whatever she thought - or had not thought - of Steven Caldwell, she had known he was a man to live by the dictates of his own conscience. Perhaps that was the reason why he could admire John's actions, even as he deplored them.

She took a deep breath. There was much upon which she needed to think, and she could not - would not - do it here on the _Daedelus_. "I am ready to return to the city - if you will see me to the engine rooms?"

"Of course."

He held the door open to her, courteous to the last, and they made their way back through the corridors of the _Daedelus_ in a silence that was more thoughtful than comfortable.

Her relationship with John - disrupted several times before - had been easily reset to balance each time. But she saw John every day. This was different - a different man, a different situation.

They paused outside the engine room where Hermiod worked, Steven's hand on her arm before they could move into the zone which would activate the doors. "Teyla." His fingers were large and warm on her skin, and his gaze was intent but gentle. "You came a long way just to say a 'thank you' that would have taken five seconds while we were working in Atlantis together. You might want to think about that."

Teyla had no answer to give, so she said nothing, only nodded. They passed into the engine room and he requested a transport down to Atlantis from the small alien ensconced behind his console, then waited by the console as Teyla took her place facing him.

"Thank you for the meeting. It was...interesting."

His smile was easy. "Thanks for coming up here."

Then the light of the transporter beam took Teyla. Colonel Caldwell, Asgard, and the _Daedelus_ engine room vanished, to be replaced by the more gateroom of Atlantis.

As she started from the mostly-empty gateroom to her own quarters, Teyla reflected that the commander of the _Daedelus_ or his unexpected offer were unlikely to vanish quite so easily from her thoughts.

She had much about which to think.

- **fin** -


End file.
